Remaining
by Countdown
Summary: Not Ceasing. In which the Speed Force utilizes its resources to change the course of events on June 20, 2016.


Disclaimer: I do not own Flash or Young Justice.

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Barry Allen, the Flash - _time remnant_ , raced around the magnetar.

Energy crackled through the air.

Looking up he could see the energy shooting into the sky slowly changing color. The magnetar's pulsing energy hung heavy in the area. He gritted his teeth as he continued racing… almost there ( _he could feel the destructive energy burning through him_ )… almost enough ( _pulsing through his very molecules_ )… made it! He had changed the multiverse destroying pulse into harmless energy ( _ripping him apart_ ).

Someone was screaming in agony.

As Barry disintegrated he realized it was his own voice.

The afterlife bore a striking resemblance to the Speed Force. Okay, so it _is_ the Speed Force. Apparently it's where speedsters go when they die.

Time had no meaning here.

He was not trying to rush back with his speed restored. No one was missing him.

He had died. Willingly given his life for the multiverse. For the people he cared about. People who had no clue what he had sacrificed for them; he was just a _time remnant_. If the other Barry had beaten Zoom then they wouldn't even miss him.

His heart ached at thoughts of his friends and so he let his mind drift away, lost to the soothing essence of the Speed Force.

Drifting. Sinking. Energy flowed through and around him.

Seconds – hours – months - maybe years later, a pale silhouette raced through the Speed Force. Partially here and partially not. _He's dying_ – the thought echoed strangely within him. In an instant he knew, knew that a speedster was dying a parallel death to his own. Absorbing destructive energy that would end his life… but in this case it was because he was _too slow_.

This speedster shouldn't have to die to save his world – if only he could fully utilize the Speed Force. Knowledge resonated around him; something was wrong with this speedster's molecular connection to the Speed Force, preventing him from fully accessing its power.

But he wasn't dead yet. He didn't have to die, not like Barry had. He just needed something to disrupt the destructive energy and fix his connection to the Speed Force. The speedster needed to outrun the energy. He needed to be faster.

The Speed Force didn't want him to die. Barry could feel its energy flowing through him; whispering a thunderous shout.

 _Run, Barry._

 _Run!_

Barry ran. Grabbing the silhouette's hand and racing forward, he let the Speed Force guide him.

The swirling energy of the Speed Force danced across a snowy backdrop as he pulled the dying speedster back into whatever world he had been fading from. An echo of wind danced across his face as he ran, partially in the world and partially in the Speed Force.

Running within and without the Speed Force at the same time was euphoric. He could see the multiverse's energy, the Speed Force's ethereal beauty and a wintery landscape. He existed in all and was in none.

The Speed Force continued to flow through Barry, using him as a conduit to shock the system of the other speedster. Speed Force lightning crackled around the pair, disrupting the destructive energy pulsing through the other speedster as they raced in a small circle. Saturating both speedsters.

The destructive energy bled out, replaced with radiant life energy. He dropped the speedster's hand. He was no longer in danger of joining the Speed Force today.

Barry's job was done here.

He smirked. He got to play hero one last time. He could feel the Speed Force calling him home, could see the peaceful energy overlapping the blurry white landscape.

He ran.

The serene essence of the Speed Force before him.

He was jolted back. A heavy weight on his arm was dragging against him, slowing him down and pulling him away from the Speed Force. The sparkling energy slowly vanished as a snowy landscape came into focus around him. There was a red gloved hand gripping his arm, pulling him out of the Speed Force.

He was running too slowly now. He could feel himself dying. Being ripped apart, shredded by the magnetar's energy all over again.

Everything _hurt_.

He concentrated on the Speed Force, the soothing balm he had been enveloped within only moments earlier. Like a shock, it snapped through him. It's energy pulling him back together. He struggled to break free from the speedster and run.

He didn't belong here. Couldn't allow himself be trapped on this world.

He smacked into something and lost focus. His vision was a dizzying whitewash, a flurry of freezing snow spinning around him. He came to a rest on his stomach, a heavy weight pressing down on his back. Then the weight jabbed into his spine before disappearing entirely.

His whole body – _hadn't it been destroyed when he died?_ – pulsed in agony. He could feel excess energy tearing him apart slowly as the healing balm of the Speed Force knit him back together. The opposing energies waged war within him. Outside the snow was freezing cold. He could feel sweat dripping off his forehead and gathering along the neck of his suit. Too hot and too cold melded together unpleasantly.

His whole body shook as he sat up. Trembling, he stood. There was a red gloved hand extended towards him. He looked up and saw yellow… and a red lightning bolt emblazoned across that yellow chest. His mind froze as it screamed _Reverse Flash_!

His fist met the yellow speedster's jaw with a loud smack. The yellow speedster fell backwards from the force of the blow.

In a flash, two more speedsters appeared. His eyes fixated on the bright red Flash standing protectively in front of the yellow speedster. His mouth opened and closed but Barry couldn't hear anything. A child speedster was clad in a white and red suit and was kneeling next to the final speedster, the one rubbing his jaw from Barry's punch. Exposed red hair and red pants confused Barry for a moment.

He was not the Reverse Flash. Barry was on another Earth. Zoom had failed to destroy the multiverse.

Barry blinked as he examined the speedsters before him. The bright red Flash was too tall to be the speedster silhouette he had seen in the Speed Force and the kid was too small. That meant he had just saved the yellow speedster from an early demise. Probably why the bright Flash was trying to talk to him instead of retaliating for his punching (attacking) the yellow speedster.

Sounds slowly started to hum around him. Muffled voices shouting caught his attention and alerted him to people in the immediate area. Strangers wearing a rainbow of colored costumes were racing towards them. Pain jarred though him again, overwhelmed him.

Barry couldn't deal with this.

He had died, could feel his body slowly dying – _again_. He just wanted to return to the peace of the Speed Force. He concentrated on the feel of the lightning, the power that flowed through him as he ran. Seeking out the path towards… home. Preparing to run even as his mortal body failed him - _again_.

A sharp pain in his shoulder was quickly followed by overwhelming exhaustion. Like when Harry knocked him out and his friends decided to lock him up. Memories of betrayal snapped through him. Dread at being locked in a small cell, helpless in the face of overwhelming danger, filled his thoughts.

A tranquilizer arrow was sticking out of his shoulder. Green. Like Oliver's arrows.

Barry's legs turned to jelly and he fell. His vision swam. Pain radiated through him; sharp, splitting pain.

The world turned black.


End file.
